Tokyo stocks open higher on US jobs data, virus hopes
AFP
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File photo: Agencies

Tokyo stocks opened higher on Friday, extending rallies on Wall Street as investors cheered a solid rebound in US employment and encouraging news about progress towards a coronavirus vaccine.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 0.64 percent, or 142.62 points, at 22,288.58 in early trade, while the broader Topix index advanced 0.61 percent, or 9.40 points, to 1,552.16.

"Japanese shares are being supported by rallies in US stocks" after better-than-expected jobs data in the world's biggest economy, said Toshiyuki Kanayama, senior market analyst at Monex.

The US economy regained 4.8 million jobs in June as businesses began to reopen nationwide, while the unemployment rate fell more than two points to 11.1 percent, the Labor Department reported.

The job creation amid the coronavirus pandemic was far higher than economists were expecting, and showed people returning to jobs in hard-hit sectors like leisure and hospitality, which accounted for just under half of the increase.

The dollar fetched 107.52 yen in early Asian trade, against 107.48 yen in New York.

Among major shares in Tokyo, game giant Nintendo was up 1.84 percent at 49,180 yen, chip-testing equipment maker Advantest gained 0.81 percent to 6,250 yen, and Uniqlo casual wear operator Fast Retailing climbed 0.75 percent to 61,770 yen.

On Wall Street, the Dow ended up 0.4 percent at 25,827.36.